Responsibilty Derailed
by FrostShadowStar
Summary: Being a 'paid' intern defintely means having more responsiblites. He just didn't think interrogating eccentric evil scientists would be one of them...


It wasn't often he hated being so tech-savvy, so good at building and on occasion inventing stuff for the OWCA...not that he was inventing things. He wasn't. Because inventors shared their creations with the world, improved it, not keep it between a few select group of people.

He wasn't an inventor. He was an intern.

An intern whose job apparently included interrogating newly captured criminals from across the border.

Why couldn't COWCA have apprehended him instead of Peter? Why had it been decided that although he was technically apprehended on Canadian soil, that the OWCA should deal with him?

As much as he hated it, he already knew the answer. It was because the OWCA had more experience with eccentric evil scientists. And it had taken quite a bit of persuading and convincing arguments on Major Monogram's part for Professor Bannister to not be automatically deported back to Greenland without a proper interrogation of his plans, foiled or future, and determine exactly how big a threat he was.

Nervously peeking from behind his clipboard, Carl studied the scientist. He was lanky, and Carl couldn't help noting enviously, tall. He also seemed to be skinnier than Carl himself, the orange OWCA jumpsuit fitting loosely on him. If the jumpsuit didn't make him look ridiculous enough, Bannister's curly hair stood at least a foot by itself and oddly reminded Carl of broccoli.

Bannister in turn eyed Carl curiously. "...Usually interrogations are chattier than this. Cat got your tongue?"

Carl's eyes immediately darted back to his clipboard. Why had Monogram insisted that he do this? Why not one of the other _real_ scientists who studied confiscated inators, inizers, and whatever else the local evil scientists created? He was just an intern for crying out loud!

Bannister rolled his eyes, at this rate he was going to be stuck sitting here forever since this newbie wasn't going to be asking him questions anytime soon. Leaning forward, he grabbed the kid's clipboard and pulled it out of his hands. Ignoring the kid's surprised 'hey' and death glare at having it stolen from him, Bannister adjusted his glasses and leaned back in his chair again as he skimmed over the papers.

He smirked. He just had an idea on making this thing move along.

Laying the clipboard on the table, Bannister gave Carl a disinterested look.

"Name."

"Wha-?"

"Name. Look kid, I don't have all day for this, so the sooner you answer these questions the sooner I can get back to work."

Carl blinked a couple of times in confusion before making a grab for the clipboard. "You don't ask the questions, I do!"

Bannister smirked as at the last minute before Carl could reclaim the clipboard, he pulled it off the table and held it over his head. "No need to get rowdy there, you don't want me to call in back-up do you?"

A part of him was screaming to just march over and take the clipboard with force, establish who exactly was in charge here and demand that he be shown proper respect…but Carl tried to ignore that part of himself. Instead he sat back down in his chair and glared.

Bannister in turn leaned back in his chair. This was turning out to be more fun than he thought it would be. "Since you won't do this the easy way, I'm afraid we'll have to do this the hard way." Leaning forward again, he gave the kid the kind of grave, serious look he'd seen on prison guards. "Why the obsession with robots? Why not build something else hmm?"

"I DON'T HAVE AN OBSESSION WITH ROBOTS!"

Both of them blinked at the sudden outburst before Carl gradually slowly sank back into his seat. He hadn't even realized he stood up when he yelled that. He wished the floor would open up and swallow him; Bannister was looking at him as if he'd just grown another head.

"…it was just a question, no need to get all huffy about it."

"W-Why don't we take turns asking the questions…t-that sounds like a good idea right?"

Bannister shrugged, still eyeing the kid curiously. Had this agency really set up some inexperienced nutcase to interrogate him? They couldn't have some agent or even a scientist do it? Instead of some teenager?

"Okay, good. Name?"

"Professor Bannister. And what about you? What's your name?"

"Carl."

He raised an eyebrow at the kid's answer. "What? No last name?" Oddly, the kid started pulling at one of his sleeves as if the very world demanded that he do so. "Well? Do you have one or not?" "...Karl."

Bannister rolled his eyes "I already know your name's Carl, what I want to know is your _last _name."

An annoyed scowl crossed his face. "Carl Karl. That's my name."

For a moment, Bannister just stared at him. And then, as usual whenever someone heard his full name, a wide smile spread across his face. He didn't bother hiding or muffling his laughter. "_Carl Karl_?! T-That's more unfortunate than _Lyla Lolliberry_!"

"At least it's better than having a piece of household furniture as a last name!"

For a second, he _enjoyed_ the look of shock on the scientist's face. That his words had shut him up. Made him stop laughing. Carl felt _good_, up until he realized what exactly he had said. Then he felt horrible, he would _never_ say something like that…aloud anyways…and even then he would feel horrible for thinking it. Never smug.

"Sorry," he mumbled "I didn't mean that." his voice squeaked at the end. What was wrong with him lately? Shoving his rising worries and concerns to the back of his mind, Carl focused on remembering what questions had been on the clipboard as a means of getting the interrogation mostly back on track.

"The mission report we got said something about….robots and a moose? Care to um explain that?"

"The moose was the target of the scheme, the robots were back up. Rather ingenious in design if I do say so myself. One with a positive polarity the other with a negative polarity, since as they say, you can't have two positives or two negatives-" an amused snort from the kid interrupted him. Narrowing his eyes, Bannister glared at him. "What's so funny?"

Instantly, the amused smile on his face vanished as he tried to look anywhere but Bannister. "N-Nothing!" He winced as once again his answer came out as a squeak.

"No really, tell me. I hate missing out on a joke."

Carl squirmed slightly in his seat. He really shouldn't be pointing out the flaws in an evil scientist's scheme. Especially such obvious ones they could learn from, but…it wasn't that often he could really talk about robotics. And besides, who was to say Bannister couldn't figure this out himself?

"Well….if you built your robots with opposite magnetic polarities…it's really not that hard to see how you….lost."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I mean _magnets_? All an agent had to do was make the two come in contact with each other and they would be stuck together, immobilized indefinitely. You'd be better off with using the same polarity." Carl shrugged. "Common sense really."

Bannister raised an eyebrow, "How would you know anything about robotics?"

"…I…fiddled…a little...once. Erm, did you catch the last episode of Iron Throne?"

Once again, Bannister eyed him curiously. It was clear the kid was trying to change the subject. As much as he wanted to contuine the subject of robotics, just to find out more about the kid, he had the feeling Carl would just clam up. And he'd be stuck in this country for God knows how long.

But if the kid wanted to change the subject to a television show, fine. It'd work in his advantage anyway. He wouldn't be asked anymore nosy questions about his work and with luck he'd be released and free to go back to Canada and work on a new, _better_ scheme against the country.

"I did actually, I have to say, that twist with the advisor not only stealing millions from his clan but _all_ the clans came completely out of nowhere. And then for them to drop that cliffhanger just before going on hiatus for a month?!"

"I knoooooow, it's like the writers enjoy putting their viewers through misery. I mean, they just came back from hiatus!"

On the other side of the onesided window into the room, Monogram watched as the conversation between the two dissolved in geeky gossip over other television shows. It wasn't going as professional as hoped it would have gone, but it was a start he supposed. In the long run, this might even be good for Carl. He wasn't as much of an idiot as most people thought him to be. He'd noticed the occasional dark look from the intern, or how the kid hesitated slightly before following orders from time to time.

Heinz's re-good-inator must have not worked as well as they'd first thought. Not that any of his inators ever worked all the way.

Which was why he had decided to have Carl deal with the Canadian, no, _Greenlandic_ evil scientist. He'd read through the reports the COWCA branch had sent him and come to the conclusion that Bannister was about as dangerous as Heinz. If anything, the man had an intense pride in his homeland and was simply showing it in the wrong way.

As much as he disliked the idea of exposing his intern to more evil so soon after that fiasco Heinz had accidently created, he felt that maybe the best way to help Carl cope with that was to show him that evil didn't always necessary mean taking over a city or worse.

That was what he hoped anyway. And that Carl wouldn't go down that path again. All he could do was help the best he could. And trust him.


End file.
